Roller-skate.



A. N. HERMAN. ROLLER SKATE.

APPLICATION rmm 83.14. 1909.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

ALEXANDER N. PIERMAN, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

ROLLER-SKATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

Application filed April 14, 1909. Serial No. 489,958.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER N. Pram MAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Roller- Skates, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to roller skates and has for its object the provision of means for positively actuating one or more of the rollers or wheels thereof so as to drive the skate, said actuating means being under the control of the skater and operated by muscular power which is applied in such a manner as to drive the skate rapidly with slight exertion, whereby a high speed can be readily secured and maintained, and said skate may also be used in the ordinary manner whenever desired.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, reference is hereby made to the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of askate constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

The skate shown comprises a body 1, and a foot support 2 pivoted thereto at the point 3. The body 1 is preferably of metal and has depending flanges provided with bearings 4 within which the wheels 5 are journaled. The foot support 2 is a metallic plate of suitable contour for the foot, and provided with oppositely disposed depending flanges 6 through which the pivot pin 3 passes. This pin is preferably located a short distance to the rear of the axis of the forward wheels and just below or a little in the rear of the ball of the foot of the skater. The flanges 6 are provided with a pin 7 which passes through slots, 8 in the flanges of the body 1, and thereby limits the pivotal movement of the foot support in both directions. Upon the pin 7 are journaled a pair of pawls 9 which engage ratchets 1O journaled on the pin 3. Between said ratchets and fixed thereto is a spur gear 11. This gear engages a spur gear 12 fixed to the axle 13 of the forward rollers 5.

The rear portion of the foot support 2 has a pair of depending flanges 14 which em-.

brace the body 1, and serve to prevent any lateral play between the foot support and body and any binding of the foot support with respect to the pin 3, such as would be caused by such lateral play and there is a cushion 15 applied to said body for receiving the impact of the foot support 2 as it descends.

The skate may obviously be used as an ordinary roller skate, the gears 12 and 11 and ratchets 1O turning idly. In order to bring the driving mechanism into action the skater throws the weight of his body forward, as if rising on his toes, which causes the foot support to turn on the pivot pin 3 into the position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1. The skater then throws his weight onto his heels and the foot support moves back into the position shown in full lines. During this movement the pawls 9 engage and drive the ratchets 10, which in turn drive the forward axle 13 through the gears 11 and 12. It should be observed that when the parts are arranged as shown, the leverage exerted by the weight of the skater upon the pawls 9 is very great. Hence the wheels 5 may be made very large if desired, or may be geared to a very high speed. It is preferable to apply the driving power to the forward wheels, although it might of course be applied to the rear wheels.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point intermediate and not substantially higher than the axes of said wheels, and a driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

2. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point adjacent and not substantially higher than the axis of the forward wheel and a driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

3. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point adjacent the axis of the forward wheel, and a pawl and ratchet driving connection between said foot support and said forward wheel, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point substantially in vertical alineinent with the ball of the foot, and a pawl and ratchet driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

5. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point substantially in vertical alinement with the ball of the foot, said foot support normally resting upon said body at a point remote from the pivot, and a pawl and ratchet driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

6. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point substantially in vertical alinement with the ball of the foot, said foot support normally resting upon said body at a point remote from the pivot, and a driving connection between said foot support and said forward wheel, substantially as set forth.

7. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point substantially in vertical alinement with the ball of the foot, and a pawl and 'atchet driving connection between said foot support and said forward wheel, substantially as set forth.

8. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, .1 foot support pivoted to said body at a point adjacent the aXis of said forward wheel, a pawl carried by said foot support, a ratchet journaled in said body in position to be engaged by said pawl and a driving connection between said ratchet and said forward wheel, substantially as set forth.

9. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point adjacent the axis of said forward wheel, a pawl carried. by said foot support, a ratchet journaled in said body in position to be engaged by said pawl, and a gear train for transmitting the power from said ratchet to said forward wheel, substantially as set forth.

10. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a footsupport pivoted to said body at a point substantially below the ball of the foot, a driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, and vertical guides at a point remote from the pivot for preventing lateral play between the foot support and body, substantially as set forth.

11. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point substan' tially below the ball of the foot, a driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, and a cushion interposed between said body and foot support at a point remote from said pivot, said foot support resting upon said cushion and being supported thereby when out of the driving position, substantially as set forth.

12. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body at a point substantially below the ball of the foot, said foot support normally resting upon said body at a point remote from the pivot, and a driving connection between said foot support and one or more of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

13. In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body, a pawl operated by said foot support, a ratchet journaled in said body in position to be engaged by said pawl and a driving connection between said ratchet and one of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

1 In a roller skate, the combination of a body having forward and rear supporting wheels, a foot support pivoted to said body, a pawl operated by said foot support, a ratchet ournaled in said body in position to be engaged by said pawl, and a gear train for transmitting the power from said ratchet to said forward wheel, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 13 day of April 1909.

ALEXANDER N. PIERMAN.

Witnesses ANNA R. KLEHM, FRANK D. LEWIS. 

